Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) - Israeli landmarks honored the United States on Sunday with gestures of gratitude following the American military's aerial operation against Iran's nuclear facilities early that morning. The front of the Knesset building was illuminated in red, white and blue, while the ceremonial plaza was adorned with American flags. An honor guard was stationed at the site, with the participation of Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana. "On behalf of the Knesset, which represents all the citizens of Israel, I...
(JNS) — A pro-Israel Christian student organization on Wednesday donated $100,000 to honor the victims of last year’s deadly Hezbollah rocket attack on a soccer field in the Golan Heights village of Majdal Shams, which claimed the lives of 12 Druze children. The donation by Passages, which has been dubbed the “Christian Birthright” for its student tours to Israel, will go to a local foundation that supports community youth pursuing higher education and leadership roles, a memorial soccer tournament and other infrastructure projects. “In bri...
(JNS) — Dozens of Israeli jets attacked dozens of targets, including military and nuclear sites, in Tehran in a “preemptive, precise, combined offensive” strike against Iran’s nuclear program early in the morning on Friday, June 13, the Israel Defense Forces stated. The IDF said that the attack was based on “high-quality intelligence” and came “in response to the Iranian regime’s ongoing aggression against Israel.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the operation, dubbed “Rising Lion,” would “continue for as many days as it...
By JNS Staff (JNS) — A Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria probably won’t happen “in our lifetime” and is no longer Washington’s goal, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said on Tuesday. “Unless there are some significant things that happen that change the culture, there’s no room for it,” Huckabee told Bloomberg, adding that a culture shift is unlikely to take place “in our lifetime.” When asked by Bloomberg if an independent Palestinian state is the goal of the Trump administration, the diplomat responded: “I don’t think so.” A Pa...
The White House was informed of Israel’s strikes against the Iranian regime ahead of time but was not involved militarily, U.S. President Donald Trump told Fox News‘ Bret Baier on Friday. Washington still hopes that Tehran will clinch a nuclear agreement with the United States, Trump told Baier. “Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb and we are hoping to get back to the negotiating table. We will see,” Fox News cited the commander-in-chief as saying. “There are several people in leadership that will not be coming back,” he added. U.S. officials w...
Following a directive from Israel’s political echelon, the Israel Defense Forces launched what it described as a preemptive, precise and combined offensive codenamed “Operation Rising Lion” in the early hours of Friday, targeting Iran’s nuclear program and other military targets across the Islamic Republic, as well as, reportedly, senior Iranian military and Islamic Republican Guards Corps commanders. The decision was, according to a defense official, signed off on by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, i...
(JNS) — The lower house of France’s Parliament on Monday voted to posthumously promote Alfred Dreyfus, amid a surge in antisemitic incidents in the country in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre. All 197 lawmakers present at the National Assembly supported the legislation, which was introduced by former prime minister Gabriel Attal of President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance Party, AFP reported. The Senate still needs to pass the bill to promote the Jewish army captain, whose wrongful conviction for treason in 1894 was widely seen as a sy...
(JNS) — U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee issued a scathing rebuke of several major American news outlets on Monday, accusing them of spreading false, Hamas-sourced narratives. In a statement from the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, Huckabee directly blamed “reckless and irresponsible reporting” by the New York Times, CNN and the Associated Press for fueling antisemitic violence in the United States — specifically referencing last month’s deadly shooting of two Israelis in Washington, D.C., and Sunday’s firebombing of a pro-Israel demonstrati...
(JNS) — Starting just after midnight on June 9, citizens of 12 countries are to be barred from entering the United States, and those of seven others are partly blocked, per a presidential proclamation on June 4. “This approach was designed to encourage cooperation with the subject countries in recognition of each country’s unique circumstances,” U.S. President Donald Trump said. “The restrictions and limitations imposed by this proclamation are, in my judgment, necessary to prevent the entry or admission of foreign nationals about whom the...
The White House was informed of Israel’s strikes against the Iranian regime ahead of time but was not involved militarily, U.S. President Donald Trump told Fox News‘ Bret Baier on Friday. Washington still hopes that Tehran will clinch a nuclear agreement with the United States, Trump told Baier. “Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb and we are hoping to get back to the negotiating table. We will see,” Fox News cited the commander-in-chief as saying. “There are several people in leadership that will not be coming back,” he added. U.S. officials w...
(JNS) — The infant son of Tzeela Gez, who was critically injured in the same terror attack that claimed his mother’s life, died at Schneider Children’s Medical Center on Thursday morning after two weeks of intensive medical efforts to save him. The tragedy began two weeks ago when Tzeela and her husband, Hananel Gez, were driving from their home in the Samarian community of Bruchin to the hospital for the birth of their child. En route, a terrorist opened fire on their vehicle. Tzeela was fatally shot, and medics attempted extensive resus...
(JNS) — Paramount+ and MTV Documentary Films told JNS exclusively on Tuesday that they plan to expand access to Montana Tucker’s documentary “The Children of October 7” on a global basis starting on June 2, the first day of Shavuot. The 36-minute film will be available in all of the areas where Paramount+ is accessible: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latin America, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. “In this documentary, Montana Tucker shined a light on the stories of devastation children experienced on Oct....
(JNS) — In the nearly 20 months since some 6,000 Hamas-led Gazan terrorists invaded Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the Jewish state has facilitated the delivery of close to 1.8 million tons of aid to the Strip, including 1.3 million tons of food, Israel said this weekend. The figures were released amid warnings of “imminent famine” in the Strip by international aid agencies led by the U.N., alongside criticism of the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation that was launched a week ago to distribute aid in Gaza that circumvents Hamas. The 1.8 milli...
(JNS) - During her 471 days in Hamas captivity, then-hostage Emily Damari lost two fingers, raised a hand to a terrorist, organized a "lice competition," was genuinely "excited" to be brought down a Hamas tunnel, and was the unquestionable morale-lifter for her captive friends. In an extensive interview with Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 aired on Saturday, Damari, 28, opened up about her captivity in the Gaza Strip. "I was nicknamed 'Shejaiya,'" Damari said in reference to her captors. "Which means heroes [in Arabic]. ..., then they called me...
(JNS) - A 2,300-year-old ring set has been discovered in Jerusalem's ancient City of David. It is the second such find at the same site within the last year, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Wednesday. The small size of the ring, gold and set with a red gemstone, indicates that it belonged to a youngster living in Jerusalem during the Second Temple period more than two millennia ago, the state-run archaeological body said. The member of the excavation team who found the previous...
(JNS) - The Auschwitz Memorial, together with the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation and leading figures from the European film industry, announced at the Cannes Film Festival on May 15 the launch of a 1:1 digital replica of the German concentration and extermination camp available for filmmakers. The Auschwitz-Birkenau Virtual Film Location harnesses 3D-scanning technologies to preserve and protect the site's historical integrity, while offering filmmakers a revolutionary tool rooted in accuracy...
(JNS) — Yarden Bibas, who was a Hamas hostage for 484 days and whose wife and children were murdered by the terror group in captivity, spoke with Israeli media about his best friend, David Cunio, who remains in captivity. Yarden, who didn’t want to speak about himself, told Israel’s Channel 12 News in the interview that he and David had been friends since first grade. “When they were introducing the students, something about his name, about his appearance, caught my eye,” he said. “During the first break I went and actually offered him friends...
(JNS) — The family of Tzeela Gez, 30, who was killed in a Palestinian terrorist attack in Samaria while on her way to deliver her baby on May 14, has decided to donate her organs. Gez’s corneas will be transplanted, one for a youngster at Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Petach Tikvah, and one for a patient at Rabin Medical Center’s Beilinson Hospital in the same city, Arutz 7 reported. Her husband, Hananel Gez, who sustained light wounds in the shooting attack outside the couple’s community of Bruchin, said: “Tzeela always brought lig...
(JNS) — Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that the chances of a breakthrough in negotiations with the United States over Iran’s nuclear program are slim, accusing the U.S. administration of making “nonsense statements.” “The Islamic Republic does not believe that the current negotiations with America will yield positive results, and no one knows what will follow,” he said at a ceremony commemorating former Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who both died in a helicopter crash in Ma...
(JNS) — Five tiny figurines — including black wood-carved heads depicting African figures — have been uncovered in Israel’s Negev Desert, offering rare insight into unexpected cultural connections in the region some 1,500 years ago, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced. The statuettes were discovered in 2017 during an excavation at Tel Malhata in the Arad Valley, in graves belonging to women and children. The findings date to the Byzantine period and suggest trade or cultural ties that extended far beyond the immediate region. The res...
(JNS)- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a phone conversation on Tuesday with Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old Israel Defense Forces soldier and dual U.S-Israeli citizen released from captivity in Gaza the previous day. Alexander, who had been held by the Hamas terrorist organization for over 580 days, is currently receiving medical care in an Israeli hospital, as confirmed by the Israeli Prime Minister's Office. According to Israeli media reports, Alexander's medical condition has rul...
By (JNS) — Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) urged Israel to destroy Iran’s oil facilities and continue to hit the Houthi rebels in Yemen. On May 5, Israeli fighter jets conducted a wave of airstrikes on Yemen’s Hudaydah Port, a day after the Houthis, an Iran-backed group, launched a ballistic missile that struck near Israel’s main international airport, wounding six. “To my friends in Israel, do what you have to do to protect your airspace and your people. It is long past time to consider hitting Iran hard. It wouldn’t take much to put Iran out of...
(JNS) — As Israel geared up to celebrate its 77th Independence Day, data released by the country’s Central Bureau of Statistics on Monday revealed that the country’s population has reached 10.094 million. This marks a growth of 135,000 people (1.4 percent) since last year’s holiday. Of the total population, 7.73 million (77.6 percent) are Jews or classified as “others,” including non-Arab Christians and individuals without religious classification. Arab citizens account for 2.11 million (20.9 percent), while foreign workers make up 248,000 (2....
(JNS) — In a ceremony underscoring the enduring friendship and growing cooperation between Israel and Germany, Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo Ron Huldai and Governing Mayor of Berlin Kai Wegner signed a new Twin Cities agreement on Monday. The deal marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations and took place in the presence of Israeli Ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor. Speaking at the ceremony, Mayor Huldai emphasized the symbolic and practical significance of the renewed partnership between the two cities. “Here today in...
(JNS) - Nefesh B'Nefesh, Friends of the IDF and Jewish National Fund-USA have announced the resumption of "Operation Hug," an initiative that will enable hundreds more families to reunite with lone soldiers serving in the Israel Defense Forces. Amid Israel's ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, thousands of young men and women who made aliyah and are serving in active combat units remain separated from their families abroad. These lone soldiers face unique emotional and logistical challenges,...
